FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a conventional elevator apparatus disclosed, for example, in JP 2000-153975 A, and shows, specifically, a machine-room-less elevator adopting a 4:1 roping system.
In the drawing, a pair of car guide rails 2 and a pair of counterweight guide rails 3 are installed in a hoistway 1. A car 4 is caused to ascend and descend while being guided by the car guide rails 2. A counterweight 5 is caused to ascend and descend while being guided by the counterweight guide rails 3.
In the upper portion of the hoistway 1, there is arranged a driving machine 6 for causing the car 4 and the counterweight 5 to ascend and descend. The driving machine 6 has a driving sheave 7. Further, in the upper portion of the interior of the hoistway 1, there are arranged a car side return pulley 8 and a counterweight side return pulley 9.
Under the car 4, there are mounted a pair of first car suspending pulleys 10 and 11 and a pair of second car suspending pulleys 12 and 13. On top of the counterweight 5, there are mounted a first counterweight suspending pulley 14 and a second counterweight suspending pulley 15.
The car 4 and the counterweight 5 are suspended in the hoistway 1 by a main rope body 16 including one or more main ropes. The main rope body 16 has first and second end portions 16a and 16b connected to a fixing portion 17 in the upper portion of the hoist way 1. Further, the main rope body 16, extending from the first end portion 16a, is wrapped sequentially around the first car suspending pulley 10, the first car suspending pulley 11, the car side return pulley 8, the second car suspending pulley 12, the second car suspending pulley 13, the driving sheave 7, the first counterweight suspending pulley 14, the counterweight side return pulley 9, and the second counterweight suspending pulley 15 in that order, ending in the second end portion 16b. 
In this elevator apparatus, two first car suspending pulleys 10 and 11 and two second car suspending pulleys 12 and 13 are arranged under the car 4, so that the main rope body 16 passes under the car 4 twice, whereby the force applied from the main rope body 16 to the car 4 is dispersed over a large area.
Further, the above-mentioned publication also discloses an example in which the first and second car suspending pulleys 10 through 13 are arranged on top of the car 4.
Generally speaking, in a rope type elevator apparatus, it is ideal for the upward resultant force applied from the main rope for suspending the car to the car to pass as close to the center of gravity of the car central portion as possible. Further, from the viewpoint of reducing the capacity and axial load of the driving machine, it is also important to reduce the weight of the car within a range that involves no problem in terms of the frictional force between the driving sheave and the main rope.
Further, in a machine-room-less elevator, it is also important to minimize the plan dimensions (width and depth) of the hoistway and to minimize the vertical dimensions (the height of the top portion gap of the hoistway and the pit depth).
Furthermore, when applying a gear-less-type driving machine to a low-speed elevator of large carrying capacity for passengers and baggage, an n:1 (n≧2) roping system is adopted. As compared with the 1:1 roping system, in the n:1 roping system, the motor capacity and brake torque of the driving machine are reduced to 1/n, and it is also possible to reduce the requisite strength (number of ropes) of the main rope.
However, in the n:1 roping system, the number of sash pulleys and that of return pulleys are increased, resulting in an increase in cost and weight. In the elevator apparatus of FIG. 11, four car suspending pulleys 10 through 13 are used. Thus, the elevation apparatus involves a large number of parts and a complicated structure, with the total weight of the car 4 also being rather large.